The Disappearance of Daniel Mazette-Delpuch, the Chef Whose Kitchen Seduced President Mitterrand

Nothing predestined Danielle Mazette-Delpuch to become the first woman to head the private kitchens of the Elysée. However, the life of this Périgord farmer born during the Second World War was accompanied by adventures, sacrifices and bursts of courage. With a combative personality, he left his mark on gastronomy forever, from the family farm in Périgord, where he learned to cook with his mother and grandmother, to the United States, where he taught classes alongside the iconic Julia Child in the Elysée kitchens of local cuisine, where he established a unique connection. with President Francois Mitterrand. This extraordinary friendship was captured in the film, c Flavors of the palace (2012), signed Christian Vincent. Actress Catherine Froth gave her features to the character of Hortense Laborie, inspired by the chef. Died this Monday, September 30, aged 82, a look back at the journey of a woman with 1,001 lives.

Tender but authoritarian education

Daniel Mazette-Delpuch was born in the suburbs of Paris in 1942, when it was still inhabited by cows and considered a village. He is the youngest of four siblings, his father lights the street lights and his mother watches over the family home. After that, little Daniel grew up according to the strict rules of that time. “There was a lot of tenderness and perseverance. We behave well, we don’t do anything, but we do what we have to do in life,” he recalled on the France 2 show. A thousand and one livesaired on YouTube in 2017 A peaceful childhood turned upside down by the death of his father when he was just 9 years old. With no income, her mother decided to return to the family farm at La Border in Chavanac, Perigord.

The house has no running water or electricity, but little Daniel likes it there. Between the sisters, they get their hands dirty and cook “peasant dishes” with their grandmother, to which their mother adds “the luxury of a middle-class kitchen, like tympanum, soufflés…”, explains Lopez at Frederic’s microphone. Being a good student, he excelled in school and even created a theater group. Then at the age of 19, love knocked on his door. Young Daniel falls under the spell of Jean-Louis’ “blue eyes”, a peasant at heart, whom he immediately marries. They started a family together on the farm, where four children were born.

Gastronomic weekend

But at the age of 32, in 1974, everything changed for Daniel Mazette-Delpuch. The farm is drowning in debts. She began making foie gras, a difficult job then disused, performed only by the oldest women in the house. The agent begins to return. “My husband then said: we are going to buy a tractor, and I said no, I will go to Florence with my sister. It was my first rebellion,” he laughs on the show “France 2”, his mother decided to open a guest house, which was the first at that time. Then the men around him tried to discourage him; “My husband said ‘oh well’, the banker said ‘absolutely not’, the tourism director said ‘stay at home, it’s never been done, it’s never going to work.’ But I was sure it would work,” he is convinced. The bet is won, his gastronomic weekend is a great success, and prestigious clients from the four corners of France and the United States flock to his table to discover the art of foie gras. The adventure lasted eight years, until the spring of 1982, when he received a letter from the IRS. This is clearly not good news. his house is again drowning in debt.

American dream

Daniel looks at the wall. Her husband encourages her to sell the farm, but she refuses. He ends up making a crazy bet to fly to New York. He doesn’t speak English, he’s never been on a plane and he doesn’t have a penny. “I was sad, scared, really scared. From the plane, I was on the ground, afraid of the unknown,” he confided to Frederic Lopez. Arrival time: Big applehe stays in a youth hostel, knocks on restaurant doors and asks to do laundry to earn money. Then the American car is launched. His connections, met at his table in Périgord, led him to teach cooking classes across the country, most notably alongside Julia Child, another iconic figure in gastronomy, an emigration of French-born cuisine to the United States.

For four years, the mother of four went back and forth between her new American life and her old life in Périgord. A crazy pace that will drive a wedge in her relationship with her husband, leading them to divorce. A chapter that will end giving way to another and the most unexpected. In the spring of 1989, he received a call from the president of the French Chamber of Haute Gastronomy, who asked him to give him a few hours. He immediately finds himself in front of Jack Lang, who tells him that a high-ranking French official is looking for a live chef.

From Farmhouse to Elysian Kitchens

Go to 55 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. However, Daniel Mazette-Delpuch still does not guess that it is the President of the Republic, François Mitterrand, who personally calls his cordon bleu talents, who were recommended by the star chef Joël Robuchon. They give him two days to think, to which he answers. “I don’t need to think, yes.” “I had no money, I was recently divorced, I had a house that was falling apart, and the president of the republic asked me to be his cook. It doesn’t matter, you don’t say no, anyway I didn’t say no.” However, when he leaves his new job, Daniel is restless and unsure of his decision. Until the decisive call. “Madame Delpuy, François Mitterrand on the phone,” he mimics on set. A thousand and one livesbefore adding “Well, I wasn’t even afraid.” Danielle then officially became the first woman to head the Élysée’s private kitchen.

Privileged relationship

One morning, returning from the market, Daniel Mazet-Delpuch meets the president in the corridors of the Elysée. The next day they invite him to his office and talk to him for 1 hour and 15 minutes. At the end of this meeting, the chief of staff asked him about the nature of their long exchange, when some heads of state could only get three minutes with him. Then he refuses to answer, adding: “Undoubtedly, the cook is more important to him.” The instructions of the head of the country are clear: “If you cook my grandmother’s dinner, I will be satisfied.” But the mission is not so simple. In the impeccably polished kitchens of the Elysée, alone among men in high hats and invariably white aprons, Daniel stands out, refusing to wear a chef’s uniform or submit to the brigade’s military hierarchy.

Daniel Mazette-Delpuch acts as a “bourgeois house cook,” a title he claims reflects the relationship of trust between the cook and the person being served. Danielle will remain true to what she is, a “peasant woman.” For two years, he prepared François Mitterrand’s personal, often improvised meals to the beat of the news, at any hour of the night or day. Therefore, his dishes are comforting, composed of the best French products, like his truffle menu, which he imagined for Mikhail Gorbachev’s dinner, where he serves truffles in a crust and with a Madeira sauce. A meal that will remain etched in Elysian culinary memory. But while he maintains a great relationship with the president, his exchanges with other members of the kitchen are heated. He finally left the palace in 1990 because of “the climate of manipulation at the Élysée”.

Departure to Antarctica

Daniel Mazette-Delpuch, at 48 and still with a taste for adventure in his heart, will multiply his projects. Originally revising his Elysian adventure, by his publication Cookbooks from Périgord to Elysee He then traveled to Antarctica, where he served for over a year as a cook for a scientific expedition recruited to boost the morale of the troops with his regressive cuisine. She spent the rest of her life discovering the world, her local cuisine and inspiring, especially with her many visits to high schools, like last March 8 for International Children’s Day. “Especially the young girls were amazed by this grandmother who told them that in life you have to go,” confided Romain Bondonneau, a close friend and editor of some of his contributions to Éditions du Ruisseau, at the microphone of Bleu Périgord. Last respects were paid to him this Thursday, October 3, at the Saint-Pantaleon Church in Chavanac. We celebrate Flavors of the palace to taste like a movie.